Bela Lugosi's Dead....

Dave Vanian of The Damned: a goth-punk vision
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Leather pants, black nail polish, torn fishnets, vinyl dresses, boots with endless buckles, burgundy velvet, capes, corsets, piercings, pasty skin, makeup for days, crimped-teased-dyed-extensioned hair.....you've entered the Goth Fashion World.

I wouldn't call myself a "visual goth" by any means. Day to day I do not look like Diamanda Galas or Elvira. For the past 20 years - since I was 16, I have DEFINITELY dabbled in it, and it's a look I can appreciate and pull off ( sometimes ) - My hair has been dyed black more times than I can count ( and purple, and red, and burgundy. ) I have more black in my wardrobe than anything else. And I've got the boots, the leather, the vinyl, the buckles, the chains, the fishnets, etc. for when I really want to step into Gothville for the evening. I love a hot goth boy or girl. If someone can really put a look together and WORK IT, I'm all for it. I will always clock on the boy with Ian Astbury hair, unbuttoned frilly white blouse, torn Nick Cave t-shirt and bondage pants. I will always crush on the girl with the dark red waist length dreadlocks, septum piercing, black PVC maid's dress, and 6 inch platform vinyl thigh high boots. It's hot. Something about the goth look turns me on. But, as we all know, there are people that just CANNOT pull off that style, no matter how hard they try.

It's more than the look though - you've got to have the right soundtrack for the setting. As someone that has frequented many "Goth Nights" at various nightclubs in my time, there are certain songs & bands that are MANDATORY for the evening. Bauhaus, Skinny Puppy, NIN, The Cure, The Damned, Ministry, Nitzer Ebb. A little goth, a little industrial, a little new wave, a little electo-clash ( a new term I'm still grasping for a sound/image that is NOT new. ) Throw in a pack of Djarums and some tea rose oil and you are all set. I know I'm being somewhat stereotypical here, but as someone who's been around the scene for a while, I've seen that it hasn't changed THAT much ( accept for the addition of some bands, Hot Topic - making goth fashion more accessible, and better hair dying products. ) Even the dance moves are the same. The infamous being ( what my good friend Mr. Sarah calls ) "Catching Butterflies". You've seen it. Put on a slow Siouxsie tune like Beatles cover "Dear Prudence" and you will watch the room quickly turn into a mass of swirling bodies, all reaching up to the sky in slow motion with fingerless gloves, like they are trying to catch that mystical fluttering bug. I'm not knocking it. I'm guilty of it. But get out of my way if "Radio Babylon" by Meat Beat Manifesto comes on, because I'll be one dancing sweaty flailing pogo'ing goth fool.

I dig the goth scene. I dig the look, I like the music, and it's a pretty passive friendly bunch. You aren't gonna see anyone on "Industrial Sundays" try to beat someone's ass for bumping into you at the bar. Instead, you may see some guys sharing a tube of black lipstick at the urinal. And I like that.

Now, go get your black suede creepers, your skintight Peter Murphy t-shirt , and purple vinyl Lip Service pants. We got some "gothin" to do!

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden.mp3
Ministry - Burning Inside.mp3
Nitzer Ebb - Join In The Chant.mp3
The Damned - Anything.mp3
Bauhaus - Rosegarden Funeral Of Sores.mp3
Sisters Of Mercy - Lucretia (My Reflection).mp3
The Cure - One Hundred Years.mp3
Nine Inch Nails - Kinda I Want To.mp3
Skinny Puppy - Dig It.mp3
The Birthday Party - Release The Bats.mp3
Ministry - Everyday Is Halloween.mp3
Front 242 - Headhunter.mp3
Tones On Tail - Go.mp3